Jack & Jill Politics

THESE WILL BE THE AFTERNOON OPEN THREADS FOR FEBRUARY.

Begun as Negro History Week in 1926 , created by the dedicated Black educator – Carter G. Woodson (The Mis-education of the Negro), it has evolved into Black History Month.

In today’s post, we will highlight a place where, if I ever get back to NYC, I am going – the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.

The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture is part of the New York Public Library.

The Center describes itself as follows:

The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture is a national research library devoted to collecting, preserving and providing access to resources documenting the experiences of peoples of African descent throughout the world. The Center’s collections first won international acclaim in 1926 when the personal collection of the distinguished Puerto Rican-born Black scholar and bibliophile, Arturo Alfonso Schomburg, was added to the Division of Negro Literature, History and Prints of the 135th Street Branch of The New York Public Library. Schomburg served as curator from 1932 until his death in 1938. Renamed in his honor in 1940, the collection grew steadily through the years. In 1972 it was designated as one of The Research Libraries of The New York Public Library and became the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. Today, the Schomburg Center contains over 5,000,000 items and provides services and programs for constituents from the United States and abroad.

Here are some of their collections:

The General Research and Reference Division holds and provides access to books, serials and microforms containing information by and about people of African descent throughout the world, concentrating on the humanities, social sciences, and the arts.

The Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division collects, preserves and makes available for research purposes rare, unique and primary materials which document the history and culture of peoples of African descent throughout the world, with a concentration on the Americas and the Caribbean.

The Art and Artifacts Division collects, documents, preserves and interprets art and artifacts by and about peoples of African heritage throughout the world.

The Moving Image and Recorded Sound (MIRS) Division documents the experiences of peoples of African descent, as they have been captured via audiovisual technology.

The Photographs and Prints Division contains both documentary and fine art photographs which document the history and culture of peoples of African descent worldwide as well as the work of photographers of African descent.

I have a feeling that you could get lost in there, for hours, just soaking up the knowledge at the Schomburg Center.